Trades software glossary

Plain-English definitions for 38 field service and trades software terms, the vocabulary you'll see in tool reviews, comparison pages, and vendor sales calls. Organized by category; counts and examples come from our directory of 127 tools.

Software categories

The big buckets of software that show up in trades directories.

FSM: Field Service Management software. The general category for tools that handle scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and customer communication for service businesses. ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro and Workiz are FSM.; FSM fits a business that sends technicians to customer locations.
CMMS: Computerized Maintenance Management System. Software for internal facility maintenance teams that track work orders, preventive maintenance schedules, and asset inventories. UpKeep, MaintainX and Limble are CMMS. CMMS is not a substitute for FSM: different software for different jobs.; A hospital facility manager uses a CMMS. An HVAC contractor visiting that hospital uses an FSM.
Construction PM: Construction Project Management software. Built around projects rather than recurring service jobs: schedules, change orders, budgets and job costing, and for residential builders, client selections. Buildertrend, JobTread and Procore are construction PM tools.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management. Tools focused on tracking leads, deals, and customer history. 29 of the 127 tools in our directory list CRM among their features. Trades CRMs that list a QuickBooks integration include Method:CRM and MarketSharp.
Estimating software: Tools focused narrowly on quoting and invoicing, without the broader scheduling and dispatching layer. Joist is one example: below its Run plan it covers estimates, invoices and payments, with no dispatching.

Pricing concepts

How field service software is priced and the gotchas to watch for.

Per-user pricing: Subscription that scales with the number of users (techs and office staff). 17 of the 78 tools in our directory that publish prices have a per-user starting price, for example Tradify ($47 per user a month) and Method:CRM ($35 per user a month).; At Tradify's $47 per user a month, 10 users cost $470 a month.
Per-company pricing: Flat monthly fee regardless of how many users access the platform. Service Fusion uses this model on every plan, and Buildertrend and Procore include unlimited users in custom quotes. Whether it beats per-user pricing depends on your headcount.; Buildxact Foundation is $169 a month billed annually with unlimited users, so a 10-person team pays the same $169 as a 2-person team.
Custom-quoted pricing: The vendor publishes no prices; you ask for a quote. 49 of the 127 tools in our directory are quote-only, including ServiceTitan, BuildOps, FieldEdge, Procore and FieldRoutes.
Free tier vs free trial: Free tier: a plan you can keep using without a subscription fee. Free trial: a paid plan you can use free for a set number of days before you decide whether to pay. In our directory, 15 of 127 tools have a free tier (including Yardbook and Contractor+) and 49 list a free trial, from 7 to 90 days.
Implementation fee: One-time charge to set up your account, import customer data, configure workflows, and train staff. Some vendors include setup in the subscription (Buildertrend, Aspire and JobTread say so); others charge for it (UpKeep's optional implementation packages start at $500, and Sera Systems charges an onboarding fee it does not publish). Get it in writing before signing.; Quote-only platforms such as ServiceTitan publish no implementation fee, so ask for it, and for the go-live plan, in writing before signing.
Parallel run: Running the old and new systems at the same time during a software migration, to reduce the risk at cutover. While both run, you pay for both subscriptions.

Workflow features

The actual capabilities you compare across tools.

Dispatching: Assigning specific techs to specific jobs and routing them during the day. Different from scheduling: scheduling is when, dispatching is who. Dispatch tools can include drag-and-drop reassignment, GPS tracking of techs, and slotting in emergency calls.
Scheduling: Setting when jobs happen: calendar view, recurring service intervals, customer-preferred time windows. Tools differ in how far scheduling goes, for example recurring contracts and multi-day jobs.
Service agreement: Recurring maintenance contract with scheduled visits (quarterly HVAC tune-ups, monthly pest treatments). Software that supports agreements can schedule the visits or work orders each agreement calls for. Entries in our directory that list service agreements include ServiceTrade, BuildOps and Simpro.
Pricebook: The catalog of services and parts your business sells, with prices. Some pricebooks present good-better-best options at the point of quote. Entries in our directory that list a pricebook include ServiceTitan, Sera Systems and FieldEdge Flat Rate (formerly Coolfront).
Customer portal: Web interface where customers book appointments, view invoices, pay, and see their service history. 52 of the 127 tools in our directory list a customer or client portal.
Route optimization: Software that orders the day's stops to cut drive time, used by route businesses such as pool service, pest control and lawn care. 20 of the 127 tools in our directory list route optimization by that name, including FieldRoutes, Service Autopilot and OptimoRoute, and 8 more list routing or route planning.
Two-way SMS: Customers can text the business and the business can text back, with the conversation logged against the customer record.
Membership program: Recurring-billing customer plans (monthly or annual) bundling preventive maintenance and priority service. Entries in our directory that list membership management include ServiceTitan and Sera Systems.
Consumer financing: Letting residential customers pay for large repair or install jobs over time through a lender, offered when they accept the quote or invoice. Housecall Pro and Jobber name Wisetack as their financing partner, and Sera Systems names Service Finance. Our financing directory covers the lenders.
AIA billing: Progress billing (billing a contract in stages as the work is completed) on the American Institute of Architects' G702 and G703 pay application forms. Entries in our directory that list AIA or progress billing include Knowify, BuildOps and Simpro.
Selection management: Tracking client decisions on materials, finishes, fixtures, and appliances during a build or remodel. Entries in our directory that list selections include Buildertrend, JobTread and Houzz Pro.
Change orders: Formal record of a scope change during a project (add a new outlet, upgrade the countertop), with its cost and timeline impact. Entries in our directory that list change orders include Buildertrend, JobTread, Procore and Buildxact.
Chemical tracking: Logging chemical applications (pesticides, pool chemicals, lawn treatments) with quantities, locations, and dates. If your state's pesticide regulator requires application records, check that the tool's records cover what it asks for. Entries in our directory that list chemical tracking or logs include FieldRoutes, PestPac, GorillaDesk and Skimmer.
Asset tracking: Equipment-level records with service history, warranties, photos, and condition. Different from inventory, which is about stock counts. Entries in our directory that list asset tracking or asset management include ServiceTrade, Simpro and MaintainX.
Preventive maintenance: Scheduled inspections and servicing to prevent failures rather than fix them after they break. CMMS tools in our directory that list it include MaintainX, UpKeep and Limble CMMS. Field service tools that support service agreements can schedule it as agreement visits.

Integrations

The other tools your FSM has to talk to.

QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Two separate QuickBooks products from Intuit: QuickBooks Online is the cloud version and QuickBooks Desktop is installed software. Check which one a tool connects to: 96 of the 127 tools in our directory list a QuickBooks integration; 63 name QuickBooks Online and 33 name QuickBooks Desktop (some name both), and 32 do not say which version.
Xero: Cloud accounting software (see our Xero entry in the accounting directory). 19 of the 127 tools in our directory list a Xero integration, including Tradify, Simpro and BigChange.
Stripe: Online payment processor. 30 of the 127 tools in our directory list a Stripe integration, including Jobber and Workiz. Stripe's published rates are on our Stripe entry in the payments directory.
Zapier: Workflow automation service that connects apps without code. It can fill a gap where a field service tool has no native integration with another app. 43 of the 127 tools in our directory list a Zapier integration.
Google Local Services Ads (LSA): Google's pay-per-lead ads, shown at the top of Search for local service businesses. Google screens a business before its ads run (for US home services: background, license and insurance checks that vary by category and location) and bills per lead, not per click, with no published rate card. 3 tools in our directory list a Google Local Services integration: Jobber, Housecall Pro and Workiz. Our lead generation directory has an entry on LSA, including the program's move into Google Ads.
Sage Intacct / NetSuite: Accounting systems other than QuickBooks that some field service tools integrate with. 14 of the 127 tools in our directory list a Sage Intacct or NetSuite integration, including ServiceTrade, BuildOps, Simpro and Procore. If your books are in one of them, check the integration before you buy.

Buyer concepts

Vocabulary you need when evaluating, switching, or scaling FSM.

Migration: Moving from one field service tool to another: exporting data from the old system, importing it into the new one, rebuilding integrations, training staff, and cutting over, with or without a parallel run. Ask both vendors what their export and import carry over (customer records, job history, recurring service agreements, pricebooks).; See our migration guides for specific tool-to-tool switches.
Vendor lockout: Risk that you lose access to your data after you cancel. Check each vendor's terms for what happens to your data after cancellation, and export what you need (customer records, historical invoices, photos) before it takes effect.
Implementation manager: A vendor employee assigned to guide your onboarding, separate from your sales rep. Some plans include one: Housecall Pro's Max plan includes dedicated onboarding, and Skimmer for Enterprise includes a dedicated success manager. Ask whether your quote includes one.
Adoption resistance: Field techs not using the new software because they prefer the old way (paper, text messages, the prior system). Plan training time for techs, and set a date to switch off the old system.
Verified date: The date WrenchStack last re-checked a tool's pricing against the vendor's public page. Shown on every tool review and comparison page. Pricing older than 90 days gets an amber freshness pill; older than 180 days gets red. See our methodology page for the full process.
WrenchStack Fit Score: Our 0-10 score per tool, computed from vertical fit (60%), pricing transparency (20%), and integration coverage (20%). Feature depth was removed in methodology v1.2 and third-party user ratings in v1.3. See the methodology page for the full formula and data sources.

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